Ultimate New York By Night

ATTENTION: The game is on hiatus, and will resume normally on October 15, 2011. Contact the GM if you’d like to join, and stay tuned for updates, schedule changes, etc.

If There’s No War, Why Are We Losing?

We’ve turned away from the sun;
In the East, the Mountains loom,
their tallest painted purest white.
They say these, too, will shake apart
or crumble down to dust.

I leave, heading east,
hoping to slip between the mountains
before the lunar oracle proclaims their doom,
instructs their snowy crowns to haunt the valley.

And if I’m never seen again,
oh well,
I’ll some day break in their abyss,
so why not now? And seal our final argument,
which conjured Christ and Sartre,
Camus, Prince, our father, and the Buddha.

And yet I kept Schrodinger’s secret safe,
galvanized by my squinting son,
who’s blue eyed smile says, “Bye-bye,”
to prophecy that I’ll return
with certainty so perfect that it quakes
the ancient church across the street.

* * *

Wasn’t there supposed to be an Apocalypse, a Reckoning, some sort ending to this nightmare? Sadly, it appears the buzzkill elders in the Camarilla were right, it’s all a bunch of hooey. There is only the eternal struggle…and that sucks.

The World of Darkness has fallen into grinding stagnation. The Sabbat and Camarilla are locked in a brutal game of whack-a-mole, continuously fighting over the same domains. The discord and divisiveness stretches down into the Sects themselves, with the Camarilla stuck debating its very nature and destiny, and the Sabbat brutally purging itself in increasingly trivial disputes. Even those thin-blooded neonates lurking in the alleys can barely function. Coteries spend as much time battling each other as they do the mutual dangers of unlife.

New York City is ground zero for this stagnation, the no man’s land marking the front line of all the bloody internecine conflicts affecting the World of Darkness. The Sabbat has seized control of the globalized megacity after a ten year absence, but the crusade was costly, and the wounds continue to fester. The Camarilla has valiantly maintained an impotent but resilient remnant presence in the city, but teeters on a thin line between a momentous power struggle and a catastrophic leadership vacuum.

This is where you find yourself, here in this miserable fucking city. You are a subject of the Camarilla, trusting in the Traditions, but confused about your purpose and destiny in unlife. A Sabbat shovelhead, eager to believe and take up the sword, but constantly looking over your shoulder. An Anarch ruffian, looking for a better way in unlife and finding only your worst fears confirmed. Or an Independent, wanting absolutely no part of any of this bullshit, thank you very much.

What will you do? Will you struggle – or fail – in these endless, frustrating civil wars? Or do you have a vision of the page turning, an answer to these impossible questions? Pfft, yeah right.

Welcome to New York. It was nice knowing you, pal.

Old World of Darkness Made New

Ultimate New York by Night is a chat-based, persistent-world Vampire: the Masquerade chronicle incorporating both official Old World of Darkness canon and unique lore accumulated from other chronicles over the years. Originally a tabletop chronicle, the game has since evolved into it’s current online iteration.

This game is slightly different from others you may have played. You are not a gamer operating an avatar, rather you are an actor and a writer composing and presenting a play in real time. While not technically free form (or dice-less) role playing, the game is laser-focused on creating drama and crafting a narrative. Dice, statistics, and rules are often blatantly ignored in favor of the narrative, and players are encouraged to explore the full extent of their character’s dramatic arc. Rules Lawyers and Power Gamers will find it frustrating, while character actors and fiction writers will flourish.

Players are given extraordinary freedom to create the lore, the setting, and the entirety of their personal stories. Notice a clan that seems under-represented, or a part of the city that seems unexplored? That’s because you haven’t done it yet. Storytellers will work closely with you to allow you to make the city – and the story – your own, while still keeping it faithful to Storyteller plotting and White Wolf canon. And while we do try to remain as close as possible to the official game lore, players are whole-heartedly encouraged to innovate and examine new and creative perspectives on the classic game material.

Can You Handle Life in the City?

Saturdays 10pm – 3am Eastern / 7pm – Midnight Pacific

We use Skype and an online dice roller, so players in different locations are more than welcome, as long as you can keep to the schedule! We play every Saturday night, unless posted otherwise on the Calendar, and players are expected to attend regularly. Due to the nature of the gameplay, moderate to high participation on Obsidian Portal is required, and regular, reliable internet access is a must.

Headsets/webcams are not required as we only use the chat function of Skype – for now. You are not required to participate in the Admin/OOC channel except on Saturday nights, although it is available 24/7 for you to connect with other players and Storytellers.